Commentary––

No Power Over Electric Bills

By William A. Collins

Power prices,

Soon to roll;

Time for us,

To take control.

As everyone knows by now, Connecticut is rushing headlong toward an electricity precipice next January 1. That date marks the end of all controls over the prices that power generators can charge us. Thus if the generating cartel has its act together by then, hang onto your hat!

Well, maybe not quite everyone yet realizes all this. But the legislature certainly does. Prudently foreseeing a public outcry when higher bills start fluttering into voters’ mailboxes, lawmakers now fear there may be an electoral backlash against anyone foolish enough to have voted for deregulation. Namely them. In self-defense they are contemplating extending the current price controls for another year or two, with a mere ten percent increase.

And why not? Even temporizing is better than doing nothing. In the interim, perhaps the Assembly’s leaders will be smitten by a great light (or at least a great heat) showing them the path back to regulation. It won’t be easy after the hash they’ve already made of it, but they ought to do the best they can. There is plenty of outside help available, if only they can free themselves from the bidding of the power companies.

Take CL&P and United Illuminating (UI). While generating power is now “competitive,” distributing it is still a regulated monopoly. Those two are the designated monopolists. But neither offers “green” (renewable) energy. Competition was supposed to provide for that, but none of the green power companies that sprang up could make a go of it. Thus there is no way right now that you or I can vote with our dollars for wind, solar, or waterpower. By rights, the legislature should require those monopolies to provide such an option.

Not that green power is easy to find any longer. The federal Department of Energy has issued its report for 2001, and renewable energy took a big hit. It seems that all those subsidized solar panels from the oil crisis times of the 1970s and 80s are now wearing out, and power dams are being removed to save the fish. Droughts have also cut down on the flow. True, windmills are increasing, but slowly because of objections to their “ruining” vistas. Need we mention that Europe is nonetheless plunging ahead with wind power, further nibbling away at its own dependence on oil?

In Connecticut we’re going the other way. The governor’s budget calls for draining the state’s Clean Energy Fund and using it for the deficit. That fund is filled with money we fork over in our electric bills. Ironically, this revelation came just as the fund announced its latest (and now last) round of new solar projects. Sayonara.

But not to worry. The nation will still have plenty of power overall. The White House just announced relaxation of its Clean Air Standards so that filthy power plants in the Midwest can keep polluting beyond their normal life span.

Meanwhile, the obvious solution to our state’s electricity woes –– publicly owned power –– is ignored as assiduously as the emperor’s lack of clothes. Too bad. We are blessed at the moment with six closed dirty plants, available at rock-bottom prices. Either a state power authority or six local authorities could buy them up for a song and modernize them at rock-bottom interest rates. That power could then be sold commercially at low rates, even after paying full taxes, to CL&P and UI. Better yet, it could be contracted to municipally owned distribution authorities. What a bonanza!

Unfortunately, though, public power is a bit suspect in Connecticut just now, what with the Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority (CRRA) and all. Sure, CRRA blessedly keeps turning our garbage into kilowatts, but the governor’s cronies on its board lost us $200 million playing footsie with Enron. All the more reason for cities to take over power distribution within their own borders. That would create a dependable market for CRRA and the hopefully refurbished Sooty Six. Then we’d have real power over our own bills.

(Columnist William A. Collins is a former state representative and a former mayor of Norwalk.)